| Type | Subsidiary of Paradox Interactive |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | Grenoble (Meylan), France (2005) |
| Headquarters | Grenoble (Meylan), France |
| Key people | Philippe Thibaut, CEO Philippe Malacher, lead developer |
| Products | Birth of America Ageod's American Civil War "Napoleon's Campaigns" (See complete products listing.) |
| Employees | 11 (2010) |
| Website | www.ageod.com |
Paradox France (also known as AGEOD and AGE Studio) is a developer and publisher of PC games. The company is incorporated in France and has its head office located in Grenoble. The company specializes in developing its own history oriented strategy video games built with its proprietary engine AGE (Adaptive Game Engine), but also publishes third party titles. AGEOD's main goal is offering to players original cultural and gaming creations developed by small independent studios and producers that have trouble finding an outlet within the traditional organization of the market.[1]
Contents |
AGEOD (AGE Online Distribution) was founded by Philippe Thibaut (designer of historical videogames Europa Universalis, Pax Romana and Great Invasions) and Philippe Malacher (AGE engine creator) in 2005.[2] The first game distributed by AGEOD was Birth of America, a turn-based strategy game about the French and Indian War that took place in the Seven Years' War, and also the American War of Independence. The second game, Ageod's American Civil War, is also a realistic historical turn-based strategy game about the American Civil War including political and economic options. The third game, Napoleon's Campaigns, is the successor of “Birth of America” with a tight focus on strategy during the Napoleonic Wars. In 2008, AGEOD released Birth of America 2: Wars in America, which expanded the previous game Birth of America by a larger map, new rules, and new scenarios and campaigns. On the 17th of December 2009 AGEOD was acquired by Paradox Interactive. [3]
For its own titles, AGEOD created and further develops the Adaptive Game Engine (AGE), a generic platform for turn-based strategy games, that is expandable and adaptable to different game scenarios. The engine comes in three main versions which in simplest terms determines the breadth and depth of the game which is build upon it. The scope may be heavily oriented towards a traditional war game (e.g., Birth of America, Napoleon's Campaigns, Birth of America 2: Wars in America) or much higher level with elements of country management, diplomacy, resource management (e.g., Ageod's American Civil War), and grand strategy considerations (e.g., Pride of Nations).
The modularity of the AGE engine allows AGEOD to back port many features of recent releases to existing titles, practising a patch policy that goes beyond mere bug fixing.